User blog:BattleGames1/Deadliest Warrior Battle 4 (redux) - Landsknecht vs Streltsy
The Landsknecht, German mercenaries that changed the tide of medieval European warfare and ushered in a new age of gunpowder... vs The Streltsy, Russia's 'marksman troops' that gave the Russian fighting militia a very large advantage in warfare... Who... is... DEADLIEST?... Weapons The Landsknecht nobly bring to the battlefield... Katzbalger2.jpg|Katzbalger Pike.jpg|Pike Arquebus.jpg|Arquebus Zweihander.jpg|Zweihander The Streltsy return fire with their set of deadly weapons... Sabre.jpg|Sabre Spontoon.jpg|Spontoon Pischal-strelet.jpg|Pischal Bardiche.jpg|Bardiche Personal Edges Short Range: The Katzbalger is significantly longer than the sabre, but the sabre is designed for aerodynamic capability. EDGE: Even Medium Range: The pike, as mentioned in an earlier battle, is an anti-cavalry weapon but I guess it could work as an anti-infantry tool but not as effectively. The spontoon, I have to say, is an improvement of the pike especially with the extra prongs/spikes on the end of it EDGE: Spontoon Long Range: This one is a no-brainer as it has been covered in DW already: the pischal can be reloaded faster, has greater accuracy and it can used jointly with the bardiche making it two weapons in one EDGE: Pischal Special: I have to admit that while the bardiche has a long reach and a large blade, the zweihander has a higher killing potential and it can be made versatile (since all of the energy in the zweihander is spread all around the sword and the user's hands; the bardiche has all the weight on the blade, thus requiring more energy for the user to swing it and get a kill) EDGE: Zweihander Battle Landsknecht: Streltsy: In an open field near an abandoned village, 5 Streltsy (with the prikazi/chief on horseback) continue firing their pischals in the direction of the village, scaring off and/or killing the villagers inside. From a distance, 5 Landsknecht mercenaries (with their Hauptmann/captain on horseback) are walking down a dirt road near a forest when they hear the gunfire and screaming. The Hauptmann, concerned, orders his men to ready their arquebuses while he readies his own. Unfortunately, the prikazi has noticed the Landsknecht taking aim and yells for his men to duck as the Landsknechts open fire. One of the Streltsy men however is too slow and is hit by one of the bullets going through his stomach . While the German arquebusiers hastily reload their weapons, the prikazi has his men ready their bardiches and pischals to return fire. The Hauptmann notices this and orders his men to scramble but one of them is killed with a hit on the neck while another is knocked down with a hit to the chest. Noticing his fallen comrade, the Hauptmann helps his fallen comrade up onto the horse as the 4 mercenaries scramble in different directions all charging towards the village. The Streltsy continue to hold their ground, albeit panic-stricken as they hastily reload their pischals. As one foot soldier charges with his pike, a Streltsy man fires and hits the Landsknecht in the face . The prikazi then orders his men to retreat into the village with their polearms and swords drawn. The three remaining mercenaries stop at the entrance to the village, firing their arquebuses but missing their shots. The Hauptmann and his soldier dismount from their steed and all three men walk inside, preparing their swords as they do. The three men continue to stride further in with no sign of the Streltsy yet. Reaching the village centre, one of the men notice a hut with an open door in it. The Hauptmann has his man go inside to inspect it, not knowing that a Streltsy with his spontoon is lying in wait. As the Landsknecht enters the premises, the Streltsy holds his ground waiting for the Landsknecht to go past him. When he sees the Landsknecht's back facing him, the Streltsy sneaks up and hits the mercenary on the back, not being able to pierce the armor but at least throwing the mercenary to the ground. The Streltsy prepares to strike the spontoon into the Landsknecht's face but the mercenary rolls out just in time for the spontoon to strike the floor... and get stuck. As the Streltsy tries to pry his polearm out of the floor, the Landsknecht gets on his feet and slashes the Russian's nape with the katzbalger, killing him . As the Landsknecht exits the house on command of the Hauptmann, he warns the two mercenaries of the two Streltsy coming up behind them. Turning around, they see the pair charging up from behind them - one with a sabre and the other with a spontoon. The prikazi, meanwhile, is hiding behind a window with his pischal at the ready. The 4 warriors then duel with the Landsknecht from before preparing his arquebus. At first the Streltsy gain the upper hand but are unable to get past the armour the Landsknecht are wearing. Eventually, the pike-wielding mercenary begins to tire out and tries to stumble back but the Streltsy stabs the Landsknecht in the thigh before drawing his sabre out and slashing the Landsknecht in the face . Unfortunately for him, he is then shot in the chest by the arquebusier from before who is in turn shot in the neck by the prikazi from the window . The Hauptmann, meanwhile, continues duelling with the sabre-wielding Streltsy; the prikazi tries to sneak away via the front door just as the two swordsmen find themselves stuck with their swords locked. The Hauptmann, out of the corner of his eye, notices the prikazi leaving and this distraction gives the Streltsy enough time to headbutt the Hauptmann making him stumble to the ground. The Streltsy then tries to charge at the mercenary captain but as he raises his sabre, the Hauptmann stabs the katzbalger in the Streltsy's stomach . The Hauptmann stands up in pain and kicks his dead opponent aside as he sheathes his katbalger and brings out his zweihander before rushing in the general direction he saw the prizaki rush off in. Down a little avenue, the prizaki turns back and fires another shot from his pischal but misses. Knowing that he has run out of ammunition, the prizaki continues running down with the Hauptmann in pursuit but unfortunately, he reaches a dead end. Realising his blunder, the prizaki unsheathes his bardiche as the Landsknecht captain comes into view holding his zweihander. After staring each other down, the prizaki charges at the Hauptmann and swings his bardiche only to be countered by a swing from the zweihander and no matter how hard the Streltsy chieftan swings his bardiche, he is either countered by the zweihander or blocked by the armour. Eventually, he manages to slash the Hauptmann across the cheek but that only serves to anger him more. Eventually after a few more seconds of fighting, the prizaki begins to tire out - giving the Hauptmann a chance to swing his zweihander and break the staff of the bardiche in half before taking another swing and cutting into the prizaki's head . Looking at his fallen opponent, the Landsknecht notices a bag of gold around his waistbelt. After taking and inspecting the contents of the bag, the Landsknecht holds onto it tightly as he sheathes his zweihander and walks out into the sunlight. Winner: Landsknecht Expert's Opinion The experts have noted that while the Streltsy had a big advantage with the pischal dominating over the arquebus, when there was close combat, the Streltsy could stand no chance beating the Landsknecht since the latter had better armour to protect them with and superior close range weaponry (especially the zweihander). If you think this battle is unfair in any way, shape or form, by all means you can go ahead and do a rematch. Battle Notes The setting for this battle might be in the European countryside similar to the setting of Hernan Cortes vs Ivan the Terrible, except it will also be near an abandoned village (where the battle may spill into perhaps). Voting will be done through commenting as always and you will have until Monday next week to get them in. As usual, the battle and next battle will go up on Tuesday and the details of the next battle will be revealed on Friday. Next battle: the extra-ordinary Mamelukes versus the valiant (and extravagant) Winged Hussars Category:Blog posts